Comparing Two Means – Sample Size

Use this calculator to determine the appropriate sample size for detecting a difference between the means of two samples. For example, is there a difference in mean blood pressure between patients who are taking a new treatment compared to the standard?

Note that if your data are not continuous or are paired (not independent) you will need a different sample size calculator.

Calculator

What confidence level do you need?

Typical choices are 90%, 95%, or 99%

%

This reflects the confidence with which you would like to detect a significant difference between the two means.

The higher the confidence level, the larger the sample size.

What power do you need?

A common choice is 80%

%

The power is the probability of detecting a signficant difference when one exists.

The higher the power, the larger the sample size.

What is the hypothesised difference?

This is the difference that you would like to detect.

The smaller the difference, the larger the sample size required.

What is the population variance?

How variable do you think your population is? This can often be determined by using the results from a previous survey, or by running a small pilot study. In this case the variance for both groups is assumed to be the same.

Your recommended sample size is

157

This is the minimum sample size you need for each group to detect whether the stated difference exists between the two means (with the required confidence level and power).

Alternative Scenarios

With a confidence level of

%

%

%

Your sample size would be

124

157

211

With a power of

%

%

%

Your sample size would be

124

157

211

With a difference of

Your sample size would be

628

70

40

With a population variance of

Your sample size would be

16

314

785

More Information

Worked Example

When designing a trial to assess the effectiveness of a new therapy treatment on the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock, how many patients are required in the treatment (new therapy) and control (standard therapy) groups? The clinicians measure the effectiveness of the therapies of the treatments using mean arterial pressures and wish to detect a difference of at least 14mmHg between the two groups (the standard deviation of the two groups is 20mmHg, i.e., the variance is 400mmHg). In order to detect a difference of this magnitude that is significant with 95% confidence and a power of 80%, the clinicians will require 33 patients in each group.

Formula

This calculator uses the following formula for the sample size n:

n = (Zα/2+Zβ)2 *2*σ2 / d2,

where Zα/2 is the critical value of the Normal distribution at α/2 (e.g. for a confidence level of 95%, α is 0.05 and the critical value is 1.96), Zβ is the critical value of the Normal distribution at β (e.g. for a power of 80%, β is 0.2 and the critical value is 0.84), σ2 is the population variance, and d is the difference you would like to detect.

Discussion

The above sample size calculator provides you with the recommended number of samples required to detect a difference between two means. By changing the four inputs (the confidence level, power, difference and population variance) in the Alternative Scenarios, you can see how each input is related to the sample size and what would happen if you didn’t use the recommended sample size.

Definitions

Confidence level

This reflects the confidence with which you would like to detect a significant difference between the two means. If your confidence level is 95%, then this means you have a 5% probability of incorrectly detecting a significant difference when one does not exist, i.e., a false positive result (otherwise known as type I error).

Power

The power is the probability of detecting a signficant difference when one exists. If your power is 80%, then this means that you have a 20% probability of failing to detect a significant difference when one does exist, i.e., a false negative result (otherwise known as type II error).

Hypothesised difference

This is the difference that you would like to detect. Given a difference, d, then your null hypothesis is:

H0: μ2-μ1< d

and your alternative hypothesis is:

H1: μ2-μ1≥ d

where μ1 and μ2 are the means of your two groups. You require a large enough sample size in order to detect a significant difference of d if one exists.

Population variance

This is calculated as:

σ2 = (1/N)* ∑Ni=1(xi-μ)2,

where,

μ = (1/N)* ∑Ni=1xi

and gives you an indication of how variable the population is. When performing significance tests, the sample variance provides an estimate of the population variance for inclusion in the formula.

Sample size

This is the minimum sample size for each group to detect whether the stated difference exists between the two means (with the required confidence level and power). Note that if some people choose not to respond they cannot be included in your sample and so if non-response is a possibility your sample size will have to be increased accordingly. In general, the higher the response rate the better the estimate, as non-response will often lead to biases in you estimate.